


Shepard and all the Universe

by sleepingseeker



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Complete, Gen, One Shot, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-13
Updated: 2014-05-13
Packaged: 2018-01-24 15:43:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1610492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepingseeker/pseuds/sleepingseeker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set immediately after my ending in Mass Effect 3</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shepard and all the Universe

He stumbled forward out of the shuttle, past Jeff, who stood mute and stunned, clawing by James who shook his head in bewilderment.  His head spinning, heart pounding, his eyes searched the unfamiliar terrain.  The jungle spread out in all directions.  Lush and thick.  Imposing and alien.  His head tipped back.  The sun blazed white and hot directly above, making his eyes water and his throat catch.  At least, that’s what he told himself was happening.  He spun around to face Joker.

"Get her on the com, now."

Joker turned his face and shook his head.  ”Can’t,” he croaked.  ”It’s fried.  All of it.  All the systems are shot.”

"Get them working," Garrus snapped as he crowded in close.

James held up his left arm, attempting to get a reading with his omni-tool.  He pressed several buttons but the gauntlet remained dark.  Unresponsive. James looked up.  

"What the hell happened?  How did we end up here?"  His eyes met Jeff’s and locked.  A silent understanding passed between the men and one by one, they dropped their gazes to the ground in front of them.

Garrus had turned to his own devices, the one attached to the side of his tilted head, the one on his forearm.  He pressed and listened, frowning.  Nothing. No static.  No interference.  No life.

A sinking feeling of dread, no, not dread, but a cloying, grasping,  _knowing_ came over him.  It felt like drowning.  It felt like despair.  It was too familiar.   He turned to face the sky once more, blinking in the brightness but not closing his eyes to it.  Allowing the heat to sear his pupils.  Hoping to burn away the fright and mounting panic rising inside of him.

Behind him he could hear Joker and James addressing the other soldiers coming out of the shuttle.  All systems down.  No response.  No power. No EDI.  Nothing.

An emptiness swelled within Garrus’ chest until he felt as though he was about to explode.  He plunged forward into the underbrush, knocking vines and branches out of his path, marching away from the men and their useless chatter about obvious things.  His legs wobbled with each full stride.  Fist clenched. His keen ears picking up the question asked by one of their fading voices.  His heart blocking out the answer. Because he didn’t need to hear it to know it. He pinched his eyes closed and pushed on until a dip in the ground made him stumble and fall to his knees.

He sat back and leaned his bulk against a tree, bracing his arms atop his bent knees.  He felt the pressure continuing to build. Knew there’d be no release from this.  He dropped his face into one hand and managed a choked growl as he brought up his other fist and ground them into his forehead.

Shepard had done it.  She had stopped the Reapers.  As she had vowed. She never went back on her promises.  It wasn’t in her.  But she wasn’t coming back.  

Garrus dropped his arms back down and stared into the thick green punctuated by vibrant flower blooms all around him.  The jungle was full of the calls of creatures he couldn’t identify, didn’t care to.  The air around his face buzzed with insects, the ground beneath him nearly vibrated with activity.  All the energy and colors, it was too much.  It blurred into a mass of organic life too rich for him to look at for very long.  He closed his eyes and remembered something she had said to him once, about making hard choices.  After a moment released a broken chuckle.

"I guess a promise made to all life in the universe trumps any made to me," he said.  He sighed.  "I just wish you gave me a chance to say goodbye."

He sat there for a little longer, listening to the hum of life all around him.  So vibrant and real, painful and joyous all at once.  He allowed himself to float along in the cacophony of sound; the rhythm that it made; the repeating thrum; carried aloft until it faded out and all he could hear was the remembered sound of her heart beating next to his ear.  One and the same.   

Shepard and all the universe.


End file.
